Celebrating My Birthday Alone
by Ascoeur
Summary: Ayano is a young, introverted first-grader who is not very good at expressing herself properly to others. On her birthday, her only friend takes off, and she goes in search of her, having encounters with people which in the future will be special to her.
1. Chapter 1

"_**Happy Birthday!"**_

A vacuously strident cry.

"Oh… thank you, Kyo-chan!"

Ayano, a young, honest girl that had been contemplating the day by the window before hearing her pet parrot speak, gratefully acknowledged the greeting.

"_**Happy Birthday!"**_

"I'm so happy for your blessings," Ayano continued, smiling brightly at her domestic bird.

"_Birthday! Happy Birthday!"_

"…"

"_**Happy Birthday!"**_

The intermittent birthday wishes from her parrot continued as the girl began to sob and rub away some incoming tears.

"_**Birthday! Happy! Birthday Happy! Happy Birthday!"**_

_No, no, I can't cry, but I can't help it, _the young Ayano told herself, fighting back more tears. _I can't help that… nobody's greeted me for my birthday today…_

The girl gave herself a few taps on the cheek with both hands, shook her head, and dried her tears off. _Today is my birthday and if no one's greeted me, that's okay!_

"He…Ehehehe," Ayano, who was turning 7 years old today, laughed her remaining sorrows off.

"**Happy birthday!"**

"Thank you, Kyo-chan," Ayano gratefully said to her pet, caressing it as she did. "You're the only one that has greeted me today."

Ayano abruptly stopped petting Kyo-chan before saying, "But… how is it that you remember that phrase...? Oh, could it be because of that one time that I…?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_A few days ago…_

"My birthday is coming soon!" Ayano told her parrot excitedly, bouncing up and down in her bed. "B-But what will I do if someone startles me by greeting me and I end up saying something harsh in response?"

Ayano began to feel distressed over this predicament. "Oh, I know! I'll practice my reply! Yup, practicing is always best!"

"So let's begin um…. Happy Birthday!"

"And then I say…um… Th-Thank you—b-but it's not like I'm grateful to you or anything!"

"Ooh… I ruined it…."

"N-no! I can't be disheartened! One more time!"

"They say… Happy Birthday!"

"And then I say… Oh, wow, I don't know what to say I'm so grate...grate…greatly bothered by you!"

"Uuh, I failed again! One more try!"

"Happy Birthday!"

"You're overdoing it!"

"Agh… I messed it up!"

"Happy Birthday!"

"Is a screw off in your head or something?"

"That's too mean!"

"Happy Birthday!"

"Be quiet!"

"Ugh… why can't I just be honest with people…?" Ayano despaired.

Kyo-chan, meanwhile, watched and listened to Ayano's dual-self dialogue.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Yeah… that's probably why Kyo-chan remembers that phrase…" Ayano reasoned with her index finger atop her bottom lip.

"_**Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday!"**_

_Even though that conversation with myself was the source of Kyo-chan learning the phrase… I'm still happy I have a friend who remembers my birthday!_

Kyo-chan began to flap its wings and headbutt its cage.

"Oh, that's right," Ayano said to herself, striding over to her pet's side. "It's not good to keep your friends in a cage." The child began to open the cage. "But… will you fly off if I let you out? No, no, you won't leave me, because you're my friend, isn't that right, Kyo-chan?"

"**Birthday!"**

Ayano chuckled at her parrot and opened the latch that secured is cage, letting it out.

"Come on out, Kyo-chan."

Kyo-chan took sidestepped out of its cage, later flapping to a stand on Ayano's hand.

"Aw, you're so cute, Kyo-chan… flying on top of my hand like that…"

"**Happy Birthday!"**

"Mm-hmm, I got it, thank you so much, Kyo-chan…. Sorry for always keeping you locked up in a narrow cage."

"**Happy!"**

"Alright, Kyo-chan, do you wan to take a look outside?" Ayano proposed, quickening her gait as she excitedly approached the window she had previously been staring out of.

"…"

"Here, I'll open the door, and you can take a look outside!" Ayano continued, opening her window and feelings strings of wind on her face, some lifting strands of her hair.

"Look, it's super vast, isn't it?" Ayano noted, smiling at her dear pet.

Just as she finished her exclamation, Kyo-chan took off.

"Eh?"

Ayano said in disbelief.

"Kyo-Kyo-Kyo-chan! ? ! ? Where are you going?" Ayano shouted after it, leaning hazardously over the window.

"**Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday!"**

"Yo-you're kidding, right, Kyo-chan? You're not leaving me, are you! ?" the young Ayano desperately questioned.

"**Happy—! Birthday—!"**

The greeting cries of the pet parrot faded away as it disappeared into the noon sun.

Ayano was left behind, staring wide-eyed out the window, shocked. "You jumped off the window… and flew away… just when I thought you were my friend… my only… friend…"

Ayano felt the familiar sting in her eyes, a harbinger to incoming tears. She began to faintly sob, feeling her chest tightening and her vision blurring.

_Kyo-chan… I wonder if you hated being locked up in that cage that much… or was it just that you hated me? I'm sorry, Kyo-chan, from now on, be happy and free…_

The cold wind entering from the window began to dry her tears off, leaving wet trail marks down her cheeks.

"I should close the window, since it's cold outside," Ayano told herself, getting up from the floor and dusting herself off.

"Hmm? Kyo-chan, I wonder if you'll be okay in this cold weather…it's midwinter and so there's not much bait for you to feed on… what happens if you… di-die? N-no, Kyo-chan, you can't die! Th-that's right, as your friend, I must watch out for you! I-it's not because I'm feeling lonely and want you by my side—that's so not the reason, but because we're friends!"

Ayano hastily put on a jacket and some thick socks before bolting out her room's door and heading for the exit of her house.

"Oh, wait, I should take some stuff with me in a small bag, just in case, like pudding," Ayano reminded herself, turning around and reentering her room.

_My mom bought lots of pudding in case people came over to greet me for my birthday…. But no one came…_

After a few minutes…

"Okay, the preparations are ready! Just wait for my, kyo-chan, I'm coming to save you!"

Ayano put a shiny object on her jacket. "Just to be sure, I'll attach a _'lost child' _badge to my vest."

It read: "Sugiura Ayano – Elementary School – 1st grade"

"Alright, with this, I'm set. Time for departure!"

And with that, Ayano ran out of her house, in search of Kyo-chan.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

"KYOKO—!"

"Kyoko-chaaaaaan!"

"WHERE ARE YOUUUU?"

"Kyoko-chan, ARE YOU THERE?"

"Sheesh, where did she run off to now, I wonder," a tomboyish girl with a band-aid on one side of her cheek said, looking around her vicinity.

"If it's Kyoko-chan we're talking about, she might be lost and scared somewhere," a red-haired girl worriedly inferred.

"She never changes… that crybaby…," the other girl said roughly, to hide her concern. "I hope she's okay."

"Kyoko-chan, don't move until we find you," her friend said to no one in particular.

"Come on, Akari, we have to hurry and find her!" Yui finally said.

"Roger that, Captain!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Before anything else, I'd like to say that this is NOT my story. I'm only translating it because I thought it was a very splendid piece of fanfiction. The author of this story goes by ID: 8N1MrVgW0 in the website yuri ss. The original story is in Japanese and goes by the title 一人で誕生日会. I just thought this story was absolutely ADORABLE! At first, I thought it was boring, but after reading it in its entirety, it's probably one of the best I've read thus far! I couldn't help but want to share with the yuru yuri community here. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did. The next part will be up as soon as I can post it.


	2. Chapter 2

Ayano gadded about aimlessly the first few minutes of her search. "Kyo-chan, where are youuuuuu?"

The elementary school girl abruptly stopped, concerned. "Oh, no, because I took so long to chase after Kyo-chan, I might not be able to find her now!"

Ayano's lip began to quiver as she was overcome by pestering sentiments of despondency over her dearest pet and friend; however, she shook her head brusquely from side to side and filled herself with motivation and determination. Kyo-chan would not want her to accept defeat so readily.

_I'm pretty sure I saw her fly off this way…_

As she surveyed her vicinity one more time, she caught sight of two little girls sitting together on a bench by a large tree. One of them, with tiny, yale-blue pigtails, was bawling her eyes out, while the other one, a dirty blonde with feline features, was endeavoring to console her.

"Oh, those two over there… maybe I can try asking them…" Ayano said to herself, cautiously approaching the couple. "U-Um…"—she caught herself before her throat could produce another sound—"B-but one of them is crying… it's kind of hard to go up to them like this… I think I'll wait for a better opportunity…"

"Mmn…buh…waah… the birdie… the birdie has… waah…!"

"Come now, Himawari, there isn't anything we can really do about the bird leaving, y'know?"

"But… but…. It was such a pretty bird, and Sakurako, you took so much care to bring it to me…mmhm…waah!"

"Ah, geez—!" Sakurako's eyes narrowed in irritation—no—in distress. She turned and began to look elsewhere as she heard Himawari sob and sniffle. Finally, the noises emanating from her playmate were just too imposing and began to sharply nag at her sense of compunction.

"Listen, Himawari," she began, scratching the side of her cheek awkwardly, "rather than the bird leaving, seeing you cry makes me sadder."

Himawari ceased to rub her eyes and shyly gazed up at Sakurako.

"So, uh, yeah, stop crying!" Sakurako finished ineptly. "'Cause if you don't, I'm going to start crying, too!" Sakuraoko crossed her arms and huffed as she turned to face the opposite direction from Himawari.

Himawari wiped a tear from her wet, blushing cheek and replied, "But there's nothing for you to cry about…" The girl's now dry cheeks puffed up in a pout. "If you cry, I'm… going to be annoyed!" She turned with a huff, as well.

_I can't hear what's going on very well, but those two seem to get along well, _Ayano opinioned, watching the scene unfold. _If I had a friend like that…_Ayano observed the soles of her shiny shoes gloomily. _I should probably go now; I can't bother them. Besides, they were talking about a bird just now, so that must be Kyo-chan… there's not mistake about it…_

"Kyo-chan, wait for me, I'm coming," Ayano whispered, and turned away from the young tsundere couple crying at the bench.

X X X X

"Wow, I've come pretty far…" Ayano said, glancing about her surroundings in astoundment and curiosity. "Kyo-chan, I wonder where you are…"

She spotted a large water fountain in the area, with the stature of an angel in the center. "Oh, a fountain! Maybe Kyo-chan came here to drink water!"

Before Ayano could even take her first step in the fountain's direction, a voice rang out, "Hold it right there!"

Ayano turned around and was met with the accusing sapphire-blue eyes of a cotton candy pink-haired girl, much shorter than she was, though not by a large extent.

"That fountain is part of Chiina's territory," she aloofly stated.

"Eh? Wh-what do you mean?" Ayano replied, befuddled.

"Like I said," she whined in a tantrum, "that fountain is Chiina's territory! Don't come any closer, just scram!"

_Wh-what's with this girl… she's scary… _Ayano thought timidly. _I-If I apologize here, maybe I can ask her whether or not she saw Kyo-chan and then move on! _

Ayano abashedly began to formulate the words to her apology. "I'm… I'm…. s-s-so…so—"

"So…?" Chinatsu repeated, trying to figure out what the girl was trying to communicate.

Ayano was startled by the girl's harsh-sounding words, and wasn't able to think straight.

"I-I'm sorry, okay? Happy?" Ayano snapped. She quickly slapped her hands over her mouth. _Why do I always end up saying the wrong thing! ?_

Chinatsu was momentarily stunned, but she recovered in a blink.

"This… this is everyone's water fountain!" Ayano said with a sudden touch of courage. "You can't just tell people to go away!"

"…." Chinatsu stared at Ayano impassively.

_O-oh, no, I got caught up in the moment, and said something weird, _Ayano thought anxiously, meekly struggling to maintain her composure in front of the enemy. _W-what should I do? This might turn into a fight…_

Chinatsu then muttered something unintelligible. "… away."

"Eh?" Ayano lifted her line of sight to be on par with the other girl's.

"I didn't want you to come any closer, because the birdie might fly away!" Chinatsu snarled out, with an underlying hint of contriteness behind her sharp words.

"The… birdie…" Ayano muttered to herself, staring wide-eyed at the girl before her.

"Y-yeah, now you get it, so stay out of there!" Chinatsu demanded, raising her index finger and pointing at the fountain in question.

"Wa-wait, please, when you say _birdie_, do you mean—?"

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY~—~!**

_Flap Flap Flap_

"Ah."

"…Ah."

The shorter girl regarded the fowl's vanishing figure as it flew farther and farther away. "The birdie… left…"

"That was… Kyo-chan…" Ayano said numbly. _I see…. So Kyo-chan was drinking water at the other side of the fountain, and this girl saw and kept people from bothering her while she rested. _

"You were so noisy that you scared it away…" Chinatsu accused, imputing the blame onto Ayano. "It was such a pretty bird, too…"

Ayano noted the crestfallen demeanor the girl carried now, as opposed to a few minutes ago, when she was adamantly determined not to let her pass.

"I'm… I'm really sorry!" the purple-haired tsundere apologized, taking a bona fide bow.

_But just the fact that I got to see Kyo-chan shows that I've made some progress! _This thought gladdened Ayano a tad. _I should be able to catch up to Kyo-chan soon!_

"U-um…"

Ayano, who had been wrapped up in her thoughts, jumped at hearing the other girl's voice ring out.

"Um… it's okay to go near the fountain now… just so you know…" Chinatsu looked to the side, curling her puffy pigtail awkwardly.

Ayano blinked. "Eh? Ah? Okay…"

Chinatsu found nothing else to say to the strange girl after bird, so she shyly picked at the soil under her feet with her shoe, suddenly finding the ground interesting.

_This girl says some pretty harsh things… but she's actually very kind… _Ayano was reminded of herself for just a moment. _She looked out for Kyo-chan in my absence…_

"He…hey…" Ayano piped up, clearing her throat.

Chinatsu looked up from the ground. "Wh-what?"

"Um… thank you so much," Ayano gratefully communicated, sending her best smile.

"Huh…?"

"Ah, uh, I-I got to go now!" Ayano hastily expressed, turning in the opposite direction and taking off. "Bye bye!"

"Huh? Hey, wa-wait, weren't you waiting for the fountain! ?" Chinatsu shouted after her, her question resounding in the park as the girl with the ponytail vanished into the trees.

X X X X X

"If I don't hurry, I might lose sight of Kyo-chan again," Ayano muttered to herself urgently. _She should've come through this alley..._

"Kyoko~! Where did you go~?"

"Kyoko-cha~n!"

Ayano was startled by the voices she heard echoing in the alley.

_Wh-what? There's someone around here… _Ayano thought to herself, scanning about herself in search for the origin of the voices. _I'm not… very good with people. What should I do—take a detour? But if I do that, then I might lose Kyo-chan…_

Just as Ayano was taking her first step in exiting the alley, someone called out to her: "Hey, hold on a moment, you over there!"

"Hyah!" Ayano cried, blenching at the sight of two strangers, who seemed to be about her age.

One of the girls, who seemed to be the most authoritative of the two, wearing shorts and a loose shirt, came up to Ayano, catching her breath. "Hey, have you seen a girl with long, silky blonde hair, a very cute smile, but who might currently be crying?"

"Yui-chan," the other girl voiced, "we don't know whether or not she's crying."

"Akari, do you really think that Kyoko, who hates to be alone, wouldn't be crying by now?"

"Hmm… now that you say so…. she probably is," Akari admitted, sighing.

"Yes, and that's why we have to go find her!" Yui reminded.

"That's my Captain!" Akari praised, bouncing up and down. "She knows everything there is about Kyoko-chan!"

Yui blushed and scratched the cheek abashedly.

"U-uhm… I…. I…" Ayano began, probing her mind for the right words to say.

Yui returned to her. "Hmm?"

_Okay, so I'll just kindly tell them, 'I'm sorry, I don't know that girl, but have you by chance seen a pretty bird flying by here?' All right, got it. Now… go, me!_

"I don't have time to deal with that trivial stuff. Anyway, have you seen a pretty bird flying around here? Answer me!"

"!"

"!"

The statement surprised the two girls, and above all, Ayano herself.

"Ah…" Ayano's countenance flushed crimson. _I… did it again. Why am I … so incompetent? Why can I only say offensive things? It's no wonder I have no friends. I can never make any. Even when I'm all grown up, I won't have any. _

Yui was the first to break out of the shock, and said, cautiously, "Uh... Ehem, I'm sorry… we don't know anything… about this bird you mentioned…"

Akari began to bow countless times. "We-we're sorry! We're really, really sorry!"

_Eh? They're not mad? _Ayano thought to herself, regarding them diffidently.

"Listen," Yui began uneasily, abrading the cement underneath her feet with her right shoe. "I don't know what happened prior to our encounter but sorry for bothering you with questions when you were in a hurry… So…. um… don't cry, okay?"

Ayano blinked, and after she did so, she felt a wet drop leave and trail down her cheek. "Eh…?" She rubbed at her eyes and found her knuckles glistening and wet. She felt the heat rise in her face. "I-I'm not crying! ! !"

Akari ruefully sighed and disapprovingly shook her head, arms crossed. "Captain, you shouldn't make girls cry."

"YO-YOU'RE BLAMING ME?" Yui impotently cried in protest.

"Hyu…nn… wah… buh…" Ayano continued to weep and snivel.

Yui panicked at seeing the girl's disconsolate state, and turned to Akari for help. Akari only smirked in her direction, though. Yui blushed and hastily returned to Ayano.

"Ah, okay, I guess there's no helping it!" Yui stepped closer to the crying girl and pat her head.

Ayano slightly flinched, but soon relaxed into the kind gesture.

"There, there… there, there…" Yui said as she caressed her head.

"…"

"Come on, you were in a hurry, right? Stopping and crying is no good," Yui comforted, awkwardly nodding in agreement with her own statement.

_She's… stroking my head,_ Ayano thought, her emotions stirred. _She's doing it rather roughly but… I can sense the kindness behind her actions… she's a nice person._

"I-I already know without you having to tell me so," Ayano stubbornly replied, wiping her tears away.

"Well, if you got the strength to say that, I guess that means you're feeling better now?" Yui queried, amiably grinning at the tsundere.

_A girl like her must have lots of friends, _Ayano inwardly commented. _If I can become more like her… maybe I'll have some too… in the future. _

"…Thank you," Ayano gratefully said in a volume no higher than a whisper's, then instantly ran off.

"He-hey, wai… She's gone." Yui sighed. "She left pretty fast… that bird must be really important to her."

"Captain, you're really good at dealing with crying girls," Akari remarked playfully, sprightly sniggering.

"Be-be quiet!" Yui said boisterously, face flushed. "Anyway, let's get back to finding Kyoko!"

"Oh, Captain, look over there!" Akari shouted, pointing at the darkening sky.

"Wah… it's a pretty bird… wait a minute—?"

Akari turned to Yui. "Could it be…?"

"The one that girl was looking for?"

"**Birthday! Birthday! Happy Birthday~!"**

Akari and Yui both stared at each other and simultaneously repeated: "Birthday?"

X X X X X

Hope you're enjoying it thus far. It's about to get better ;3


End file.
